


i am the flower, you are the seed

by ShowMeAHero



Series: as the ghost begins to bleed [8]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adoption, Babies, Bitchcraft, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, F/M, Families of Choice, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Jewish Richie Tozier, Kid Fic, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Married Life, Mentions of Infertility, Mike Denbrough, Post-Canon, Post-IT Chapter Two (2019), Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Witchcraft, alternatively Richcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2019-11-05
Packaged: 2021-01-23 07:00:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21316081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShowMeAHero/pseuds/ShowMeAHero
Summary: "I was gonna tell you," Richie whispers hurriedly, at the same time Ben hisses,"Richie, what did you do?""What do youmean,what didIdo?" Richie asks. "Like this just happened spontaneously?""Richie, you're anecromancer,"Ben says, his eyebrows crumpled with concern, and Richie stifles a laugh."That's— You know, that'ssofair," Richie allows. "That's really,reallyfair, Haystack. Come in, meet my kids."
Relationships: Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Bill Denbrough/Mike Hanlon, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Patricia Blum Uris/Stanley Uris
Series: as the ghost begins to bleed [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1493912
Comments: 58
Kudos: 505





	i am the flower, you are the seed

**Author's Note:**

> this warmed my heart so much. they deserve so much slice of life domestic softness after all the pain they have suffered!!!
> 
> Title taken from ["All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAfxs0IDeMs) by Heart, an absolutely bananas song that I totally love.

When Richie wakes up to the sound of a baby crying, he's momentarily fucking _ bewildered _as to where the hell he fell asleep. He can't place why there would be a baby crying in his bedroom. He fumbles for his glasses and shoves them on, searching blearily for said baby, and then he sees Audrey, and he remembers.

"Oh, shit," he whispers, wriggling out of the sheets. He scrambles out of bed and nearly trips before he catches himself on the nightstand. Audrey's momentarily distracted by his sudden stumbling appearance, and her crying breaks off, but then starts up again in a moment. Richie scoops her up and presses her against his chest.

"Richie?" Riley asks sleepily. She'd fallen asleep in between him and Eddie on the bed, and slowly wormed her way under Eddie's arm during the night. Now, she's sitting up and looking at him, rubbing at one eye with her tiny hand. Richie shuffles over to her and holds out an arm.

"C'mere, short stack," he whispers, and she hesitates for a moment. "It's okay, I'm gonna get us a drink of water. How's that?"

Riley glances back at Eddie, then nods and scoots towards Richie. He leans over and pulls her up against his hip. It takes him a second to balance them both, but Riley's hand patting Audrey on the head while he figures it out has quieted her down, so he'll take it. He figures it all out, tries to leave the room, and _ then _he gets to the closed bedroom door.

He stares at it, then sighs.

"Fatherhood doesn't give you automatic common sense," he whispers to Riley before he crouches down to twist the doorknob with his elbow. He manages to get them all out into the hallway in one piece without waking Eddie up, which is more a testament to how exhausted Eddie is than it is to Richie's stealth (or lack thereof).

He brings them into the kitchen and he's about to put Riley down in her high chair when there's a soft knock at the front door. Richie and Riley look at each other; then, Richie sighs.

"I don't even know what day it is," he tells her.

"Richie," she replies.

"I know," he says. "Irresponsible."

She just smiles and lays her head on his shoulder, and it's so cute that Richie melts a little inside. He glances at Audrey, who's just sniffling into his shirt now. Her tiny tear-stained face _ also _melts him inside.

The soft knock comes at the door again. Richie kisses the top of Audrey's head, then takes them to the front door with him. He leans up to look through the peephole, and Ben's on the other side, looking down at his phone, dialing a number that Richie can only presume is either him or Eddie. Both of their phones are currently in their bedroom, and Richie realizes, in a moment of clarity, that a phone call would wake Eddie up, and so he starts fumbling with the door while muttering, "No, fuck, don't call, I'm opening the door—"

"Richie?" Ben asks, a little too loudly on the other side, and Audrey sniffles again. Ben's brow furrows a little bit when Richie glances at him through the peephole before he pulls away again and shoves at the front door knob. He manages to get it open a crack.

"Come in," Richie says, shuffling backwards a few smaller half-steps. Ben comes in, dropping his messenger bag at their feet and shutting the door behind them softly before he turns to fully face Richie. Whatever he's about to say dies in his mouth when he looks at him.

In the next beat of silence, Richie remembers they forgot to call _ literally _anyone yesterday.

"I was gonna tell you," Richie whispers hurriedly, at the same time Ben hisses, "Richie, _ what did you do?" _

"What do you _ mean, _ what did _ I _do?" Richie asks. "Like this just happened spontaneously?"

"Richie, you're a _ necromancer," _Ben says, his eyebrows crumpled with concern, and Richie stifles a laugh.

"That's— You know, that's _ so _ fair," Richie allows. "That's really, _ really _fair, Haystack. Come in, meet my kids."

"Please tell me you got them through natural and legal means," Ben says. _ "Please. _ I'll beg. This is… _ Richie—" _

"Man, I swear, I adopted these kids," Richie says. He looks down to Riley, then says, "Hey, Riles, this is Ben. Uncle Ben?"

"Either one is fine," Ben says, sounding choked.

"Hi," Riley says.

"Hi, uhh… Riles," Ben replies.

"Riley," Richie helpfully provides. Ben looks to him with an expression that's so desperately confused that Richie wants to take a picture.

"Riley?" Ben asks.

"And Audrey," Richie says, tipping his head towards Audrey. Ben looks over at her, then back to Riley, and Richie sees the second he gives in to his baser Ben-instincts, smiling and holding out his hands.

"Can I hold her?" Ben asks. "While you explain yourself?"

Richie shifts to lean towards Ben, and he carefully takes Audrey from him. She's mostly fallen back asleep despite Ben's appearance, and she turns easily into his chest to keep sleeping. Ben rocks her a little bit, still looking absolutely bewildered. He's starting to melt, too, though. Richie totally gets it.

"Tom and Grace called us yesterday and had an urgent placement or an immediate— I don't know, a something. I'm really tired. Do you know what time it is?" Richie asks.

"Nine-thirty in the morning," Ben tells him, which explains the weird angle of the light through the cracks between curtains and window frames. Richie assumed it'd be earlier in the morning, but he also fell asleep around six after being up with Audrey most of the night, so he's not sure anymore.

"Do you also know what day it is?" Richie asks, motioning for Ben to follow him back through to the kitchen. He finally maneuvers Riley into her high chair, already strapped into place at their breakfast nook by Eddie the day before.

"Uhh, the fourth?" Ben ventures. "A Monday?"

Richie whistles, grabbing the only cup they have for Riley so far off the drying rack by the sink and filling it with water. "Man, I'm so disoriented."

Ben laughs. "Richie, I showed up here and you have _ two kids. _ At least you have _ context." _

"We adopted them, Benny, I swear," Richie assures him. He hands Riley her cup, and she promptly spills half of it on herself. Richie belatedly remembers the cup had a lid, and he sighs. "Sorry, short stack."

_ "Richie," _ she says plaintively. He pulls her wet shirt up and off.

"Can you watch them for a second while I get her a new shirt?" Richie asks, and Ben looks wild in the eyes, but he nods. Richie trusts his judgment and leaves him there, going back to their bedroom to dig through the box of clothes they have for her. He does it as silently as he can, trying desperately not to wake Eddie, but he _ has _to stop and look at him. He's still curled up loosely around the space where Richie and Riley had been, and it makes Richie feel warm, so he kisses Eddie on the forehead before he leaves again.

"Ta-da," he says when he gets back to the kitchen. Riley has made her way to Ben's lap somehow, and Ben himself looks completely at peace with the world now. "Arms up, bucko."

Ben helps Riley lift one arm, then the other, the two of them wiggling her into the shirt while she giggles at them and tries to dart away under their hands. Audrey sleeps through it, and Richie thanks the Turtle-God-deity-whatever for small mercies.

"They were taken out of an abusive home," Richie says, once Riley is dressed and he's digging through the drying rack for the lid to what he now remembers is a baby sippy cup, not just a regular cup. "They needed immediate placement, and we were already on our way there because the family we were going to meet with bailed, and I—" Richie stops and considers that. He remembers vividly how heartbroken he had felt in that moment but, looking at Riley and Audrey now, he wouldn't trade them for absolutely _ anything _in the world. He feels it with a bone-deep righteousness that might be Turtle-influenced necromancy-Deadlights magic-prophecy energy, or just might be parenthood. He's not sure which, since he's something of a trailblazer in his family for both.

"And they asked us if we'd be open to them instead," Richie finishes. "And we said— Well, fucking obviously said yes, since they're here. Officially adopted and everything. Yesterday was kind of a whirlwind, we completely fucking forgot to call literally _ anyone, _ I am so, _ so _sorry—"

"No, Richie, this is incredible," Ben stops him. Richie snaps the top of the cup into place and hands it back to Riley, who takes a hesitant sip with his help. When it doesn't spill, she beams at him, and he grins right back.

"Good job, short stack," he says, and she takes another sip. Richie sits down across from Ben at the breakfast table and says, "So, two new Kaspbraks."

Ben looks up at him. "Just Kaspbrak?"

Richie shrugs. "I already changed my name. Why should they get stuck with Tozier if I'm not even legally stuck with it anymore?"

"Just socially," Ben says. "Do they have middle names?"

"Oh, yeah, duh, you're gonna love this," Richie tells him. "Riley's Riley Frances Kaspbrak, that's after Eddie's dad, and Audrey is Audrey Beverly Kaspbrak, because, really, we couldn't think of _ any _girls we liked more than Beverly—"

"You don't _ know _any girls besides Beverly," Ben says, but he's choked up.

"Don't do this to me, Haystack," Richie warns him. "I'm such a baby, I'll cry if you cry."

"Then get ready to cry, dumbass," Ben says through his tears. Richie laughs. "I'm so proud of you, Richie."

"Ben—"

"I mean it," Ben cuts him off. The two of them look at each other for a long, _ long _moment, and Richie drops his chin into his hand, elbow propped up on the table. He remembers countless mornings like this, after nights when he couldn't stay in his own house and Ben and his mother Arlene had let him come sleep there, as many times as he needed. He remembers waking up in tears and Ben hugging him and never telling a soul about it. He can't believe how much he lost when he forgot the Losers. When he forgot Ben, he lost the closest thing he ever had to an actual brother.

"They should call you Uncle Ben," Richie says. "If you're into that sort of thing."

"What, families? Yeah, Rich, I'm into it," Ben tells him, grinning.

"I was just thinking how you're the closest thing I've ever had to a brother so— No, _ no," _ Richie says, when Ben starts to tear up again. "Goddamn you, Hanscom, get it _ together _ or I'll have to wrestle you to get my masculinity back like when we were kids."

"Nothing's changed," Ben laughs through his tears. "God, Rich, you can't just _ say _ shit like that."

_ "Can't I?" _ Richie asks, and Ben laughs again. Riley frowns up at him, halfway to dozing again before he startled her, and she holds her hands out to Richie. Richie's whole chest seizes with that one movement, that she's seeking _ him _ for comfort, and it finally hits him, _ finally, _how real this actually is. He gets up and lifts Riley up, tucks her against his chest and buries his face in her hair.

"You okay?" Ben asks. Richie nods into Riley's hair.

"I'm having a moment," Richie says. "I'll wrestle you about it in a second."

Ben laughs again, making Richie snort and pull back to blow a kiss on Riley's cheek before Ben starts to demand that they call Beverly.

"I don't wanna wake anyone up," Richie says, making coffee one-handed while Riley falls back asleep in his other arm, held tight against his chest.

"Rich, I told you, it's almost ten-thirty now," Ben reminds him. "Your sense of time is whack, buddy."

"Eddie's still asleep," Richie adds. Ben's quiet for a moment too long. "What?"

"I forgot about Eddie," Ben says, so stricken that Richie has to put his hand over his mouth to silence his laughs so Riley doesn't wake up again. "Shut up, you ass, I just got so distracted—"

"What the fuck is Ben doing here?" Eddie asks from the kitchen doorway, and Richie almost passes out trying to stifle his laughter. He passes Riley over to Eddie, who goes all soft when he sees her and tucks her against his shoulder.

"It's apparently the morning," Richie tells him, calming himself down. He kisses Eddie on the cheek, then the nose, then the lips, grinning. "Hey, _ Daddy—" _

_ "Horrifying," _ Ben exclaims, as Eddie spits, _ "Jesus, _ don't call me that, what is _ wrong _with you—" and Richie cackles like the demon he is when he's with his friends.

"Hi, Daddy," Riley says, looking up to Eddie, and Richie stops laughing all at once. Eddie smiles down at her, touches her cheek.

"Hi, Riley," Eddie says. He looks up at Richie, tears in his eyes. "We are _ never _ telling _ anyone _why she said it, is that fucking clear?"

"Crystal, sir," Richie replies. Eddie looks to Ben with that same intense sharpness.

"No, yeah, gotcha," Ben says. The tears slip down Eddie's face, and he laughs self-consciously.

"Good morning," Richie tries. "I made coffee, and also, I love you?"

"You're infuriating," Eddie says, but allows it. Richie lasts another minute and a half.

"Ben forgot you were here," Richie tells him, and Ben smacks him on the arm with the hand not holding Audrey.

"You're such a dickwad," Ben says.

"I'm not gonna name any of my kids after you," Eddie warns. "Keep it up, see what happens."

"You have to call Bev," Ben remembers. "Actually, what the fuck am I saying, we have to call _ everyone—" _

"Ben, we kinda—" Richie starts to say, but Eddie cuts him off with, "Well, you're already here, so, why not?"

What Richie had been _ going _ to say was, "Ben, we kinda wanted to just be a family for a _ little _bit longer before a hurricane of people we love very much, but are still hurricanes, hits this apartment," because that's what Eddie had wanted. He had said exactly that to Richie the night before, and Richie had nodded and said, "Yeah, of course, Eds, whatever you want." He hadn't anticipated one of the Losers showing up so quickly but, honestly, he should have.

"What brings you here, anyways?" Richie says instead. He leans in lecherously. "Need a cup of _ sugar, _ Benny-boy?"

"Not from you, thanks, Mr. Kaspbrak," Ben says, and Richie gags.

"Ugh, it's bad enough thinking about their friends calling me that someday, gimme a few years at least," Richie scolds him. Eddie thumps him on the arm. "Not _because _of the name, you dumbass, because it makes me sound old as dirt."

"You _ are _old as dirt," Eddie tells him. Richie scoffs playfully and looks to Ben, but Ben grins at him.

"Sorry, he's right," Ben says, and Richie gasps overdramatically, making Riley huff a little laugh. Richie gets a little thrill from that, better than any stage high he's ever gotten, and so he turns and bows to her and Eddie, which only makes her laugh more.

"God, _ no, _she thinks he's funny," Eddie complains.

"Give her two seconds with Stan and he'll change her mind," Ben says, and that's what snaps Richie into clarity. The nebulous concept of _ people coming over _ was giving him anxiety; the concrete concept of _ Stan meeting my daughters _ gives him a fierce stab of _ want, _so intense that he just leaves the room to get his phone. He hears Eddie say something, but he's already too far away to answer, so he just keeps going until he gets to his phone plugged in next to his side of the bed. As soon as he picks it up, it starts to ring, and Stan's name and face light up the screen.

Richie picks up. "I was _ just _about to call you."

"No shit?" Stan asks. "I'm at work and I just thought, hmm, haven't heard from Richie in about thirty seconds, should probably make sure he didn't have a nervous breakdown."

"Close, but no," Richie says. "I had a baby."

"Elaborate."

"Well, I had two."

_ "Explain." _

“Tom and Grace called with an immediate placement,” Richie says. “Eddie and I—”

“No,” Stan interrupts.

“—adopted two kids yesterday—”

_ “No,” _Stan says again.

“I swear to you, _ yes,” _Richie assures him.

“Prove it,” Stan demands, and Richie turns on the video function on his phone and turns the camera around to show the bassinet next to his bed. “You _ motherfucker.” _

Richie turns the camera back around. “Surprise. Wanna come over?”

“I’m on my way,” Stan says. “I hate you.” He hangs up, then Richie’s phone vibrates with a text. _ I love you. You’re just infuriating. _

Richie smiles. He texts back, _ u dont need to worry about ur last words being ‘i hate u’ if u die. ill just bring u back and make u try again. _

_ Well, what if you die, dickwad? _Stan texts back. Richie hesitates, then laughs, once, a dry sound.

He replies, _ love u 2 stan, _ and Stan texts, _ Love you. Be there soon. Text the group chat. _

Richie doesn't text the group chat. Richie, in what he thinks is true to form and so the only option, goes back out to the kitchen, holds up his phone, and video calls the group chat instead. Eddie sighs, rubbing at his face with his free hand, but he lets him do it, so Richie counts it as a win as Bill picks up.

“Voilà!” Richie exclaims, as Bill’s face appears on the screen. It takes Bill a moment of squinting at the screen — “Like an old man,” Richie comments, and Bill tells him to fuck off — before he frowns.

“Wh-Whose kid is that?” Bill asks. Richie frowns, looking down at Eddie and Riley on the screen.

“It’s _ my _fucking kid, Bill,” Eddie says. “Why the fuck else would we be calling you?”

“Oh, God,” Bill says, which is a weirdly negative reaction, in Richie’s opinion. He meets Eddie’s eyes, then Ben’s; Ben mouths, _ I don’t know? _ at him. “Did— Shit. Was it—”

“No!” Eddie exclaims. “No, fuck no, no, _ no—” _

“What?” Richie asks.

“It’s n-n-not Myra’s?” Bill asks, and Richie starts laughing so hard he has to put the phone down, his hands are shaking too bad. He hears someone else pick up, and then Beverly’s voice says, “Hello?”

“Hi, Bev,” Ben says, grabbing Richie’s phone while Eddie whispers curses at him and pulls him upright.

“What’re you doing on Richie’s phone, hon?” Bev asks. Ben turns the camera towards himself. “Aw, who’s this?”

“Audrey Beverly Kaspbrak,” Ben says, and the silence that follows is better than any applause Richie’s ever _ heard, _it’s so stunned. “Richie and Eddie—”

“You’re _ fucking kidding me,” _Bev says, audibly crying, and Richie slides across the kitchen tiles in his socks to yank the phone out of Ben’s hands.

“Hey, Bev,” Richie says.

“You _ suck,” _Bev tells him instantly. “What’s going on?”

“Wait ‘til everyone picks up,” Richie says, “we’re still waiting on— Oh, Mike, just Mike.”

“Oh, Mike’s— here,” Bill says. He seems to hesitate for a moment before he turns his phone horizontal and Mike leans in, waving.

“Hi,” Bev says.

“Are you two in bed?” Richie demands, and Bill immediately turns off his camera. “You turn your camera back on _ right now, _William Denbrough!”

“No!” he shouts through the line.

“Show me the baby again,” Bev says. Ben pulls his own phone out and joins the video call to show her Audrey again. Stan joins the call, his phone mounted on the dashboard of his car as he drives.

“Who’s this?” Stan asks.

“This isn’t really how we planned on doing this, but Uncle Ben over here forced our hand a little bit,” Richie says. “We adopted two—”

“Oh my _ God,” _Bev exclaims.

“—kids yesterday, fuck, Bev, let a guy announce the birth of his children, I’m Mufasa and you just _ shoved _me off Pride Rock,” Richie scolds her.

“What’d you say her name was, Richie?” Mike asks, turning on the camera on his phone. Bill stays off camera, on voice only.

“Audrey Beverly Kaspbrak,” Richie repeats. “She’s three months old. And here’s her sister,” Richie says, aiming his camera at Eddie and Riley, “Riley Frances Kaspbrak, twenty months old. They’re the two best kids in the world.”

“I love them already,” Bev tells him. “Oh, my God, show me both of them at the same time.”

Richie and Ben oblige, and Bev starts crying all over again, which gets Ben _ and _Richie crying. Bev says, “I’m on my way over, don’t leave,” and hangs up, and Stan hangs up, promising that he’s nearly there. Mike and Bill are left, and there’s a moment of almost-weird silence before Richie gets that urge he always gets, where he needs to fill the silence or he’ll need to leave the room.

“It’s okay if you’re fucking,” he says. “Like, you said you wanted to get married, so being in the same bed really isn’t _ that _big of a—”

_ “Richie,” _Eddie hisses, as Mike says, “What do you mean?”

Richie’s brain instantly goes into meltdown mode as he remembers that is not something Bill has brought up again, and so probably has not actually done yet. Scrambling, he says, “Mike, what I _ mean _ is that it’s cool if you two are fucking, Eddie and I fuck all the time and I _ think _Ben and Bev do too—”

“Oh, Rich,” Ben says.

“—so it’s fine to fuck your friends,” Richie finishes. “Is all. I meant to say.”

There’s a beat of silence. Ultimately, Mike says, “Well… Alright, Richie.”

“You dumbfuck,” Eddie hisses. Richie waves him away.

“Come over?” Richie asks. “Come meet them? Your nieces?”

“We’re coming,” Mike says. “I’m so happy for you two. I love you guys, you look so happy. Look at Eddie— Well, not right now,” he amends, because Eddie looks incredibly pissed off in the moment, “but Eddie looked pretty much the happiest I’ve ever seen him two minutes ago.”

“Aw, you say such sweet things, Mikey,” Richie says. Eddie kicks at his ankle, and Richie narrowly avoids him as he says, “I should’ve married _ you _instead of this little goblin—”

_ “Fuck _ you,” Eddie says meaningfully. “Mike, Bill, you’re welcome to come over and meet _ my _daughters and mourn Richie with us. See you soon.”

“See you s-s-soon, Eddie,” Bill says. Richie forgot he was on the line, in all honesty.

“Give us, like, twenty minutes,” Mike tells them, and hangs up. Richie waves to Ben, who laughs before he hangs up, too, and Richie ends the video call.

“Oh, wait, I actually did have another reason for coming here,” Ben says. He gingerly stands and goes to his bag by the door, dragging it in and digging through it for something. “Aha,” he says, and pulls out a green-and-black book with cauldrons and oozing green potions on the front. It has a pretty groovy melting green title that says _ The Black Arts. _

“Where’d you find this?” Richie asks, taking the book and thumbing it open to a random page in the middle of the book. It’s blank. He frowns, then flips back to the beginning of the book. The first page, for a moment, says nothing; after a moment, ink bleeds onto the page, and text just like the font on the cover darkens to read _ The Black Arts _again. Richie raises his eyebrows.

“Yeah, I thought you might like that,” Ben says. “I found it at a weird store I stopped at on a jog, the lady behind the counter was super weird about it even though it was totally blank, so, I thought it’d be right up your alley.”

“Thanks, Ben,” Richie says, flipping to the second page. It’s blank, too, but after a moment, a page of text and diagrams comes together. The heading at the top says Righting Wrongs. Richie reads it quickly, and it’s all about how to cast small charms to make people more willing to forgive your apologies. “Holy fuck, I think this thing is reading my mind.”

Eddie leans over and grabs the book out of his hands, snapping it shut and slapping it down on the table. “Richie, don’t let books read your mind, what’s _ wrong _with you—”

“I didn’t know there were rules about whether or not I could let books _ read my mind,” _Richie says. “You think of everything—”

“Shut _ up, _Richie,” Eddie says.

“Make me,” Richie teases, and boxes Eddie in against the counter. Eddie smiles, a little, then leans up and kisses him. Richie cups his jaw in one hand, then covers Riley’s eyes with the other. She laughs, grabbing his wrist, so Richie pulls away from Eddie to ruffle her hair and scoop her up when she lifts her hands to him.

“We can ask Mike to check the book out,” Ben suggests, as Eddie starts to pull together ingredients for Richie to make brunch for everyone. Richie evaluates what they have, then pulls out his phone again to Google _ what do babies eat. _He hears a key in the front door, and then Stan’s coming in and makes a beeline for him and Ben at the table.

“Who can I take?” Stan asks, looking between Ben and Richie like he’ll just grab one of the kids if they don’t answer fast enough.

“Hey, Riley, wanna meet your Uncle Stan?” Richie asks. Riley lifts her head to look at Stan.

“Hi, Riley,” Stan says. “I’m really excited to meet you.”

Riley waves, then turns her face back into Richie’s chest. Richie says, “Today’s overwhelming. Well, I’m sure the last few days have been overwhelming, actually.”

“Here,” Ben says, standing and passing off Audrey to Stan. She’s awake again, but not unhappy, and Richie considers Stan a fairly calming presence when he wants to be, which Audrey seems to agree with. Eddie sorts through all the different formula he had picked up at the grocery store the night before and lines it up.

“This must be like a weird little heaven for you,” Richie says to Eddie. Eddie thumps him on the arm, then looks back over the tins again. Richie takes the opportunity to sling his free arm across Eddie’s shoulders. “Just do the three month one, she was fine with it last night.”

“I just don’t wanna fuck it up,” Eddie says. His voice is softer than normal, so Richie leans down to kiss him on the cheek.

“You couldn’t,” Richie tells him.

“You know,” Stan says, coming up to lean against the counter next to Richie and Eddie, looking down at Audrey as he speaks, “Patty and I tried to have kids. A couple years ago.”

“Yeah?” Richie asks.

“Yeah,” Stan tells him. “Turns out I can’t have kids.”

It’s quiet for a second, and then Ben says, “Stan, I’m so—”

“It’s fine,” Stan says. “Well, I mean, it’s not _ fine, _ but I just— I meant that I hadn’t been sure what to do about it. Patty, she wants to have a baby so badly, and I can’t—” He makes a frustrated sound. “But, I’m— Looking at you guys, I mean, thinking about adoption as something _ concrete, _I just never considered it, I guess. And then everything happened, and now I’ve just…” Stan stops. “I forgot to tell Patty.”

“You’ve got a lot going on,” Ben says.

“I’ll text Patty,” Richie says, shooting off a text to Patty that says, _ surprise at my place, stan just got here, u in? _ It takes her a moment to view it but, after she does, she replies, _ Omw. _ “See, she’s coming. No worries, Stan the Man.” He leans against the counter next to Stan, their shoulders touching. He leans his head over Stan’s. “Hey, Stan.”

“Fuck off, Richie.”

“You can’t tell me to fuck off when you decide you’re going to express yourself,” Richie says. “I’m sorry to hear that—”

“Rich—”

_ “But,” _ Richie says, “here’s the thing. Your part, that’s the easiest part. I mean, you can adopt if you want, but if you ever— don’t want. To do that. I mean, if you or Patty— If you _ wanted—” _

“Oh, God,” Eddie says.

“What the hell are you doing,” Stan says flatly. Richie turns back to Riley, who just looks up at him and says nothing. _ Traitor. _

“I just meant if you wanted a donor,” Richie says, and Eddie groans, “then I’d be willing to do that for you.”

Stan, surprisingly, does not groan. Instead, he’s quiet for a moment before he says, “Thank you. I’ll… I mean, I’ll talk to Patty about it.”

“Really?” Richie asks. “I mean— Really?”

“Yeah, why? Did you not mean it?” Stan asks, only half-smiling, like he thinks Richie really _ will _ just say, _ haha, yup, joke’s on you, I don’t actually mean this very serious thing I just offered to you, go fuck yourself. _

“Of course I mean it,” Richie says. “I just thought you’d tell me to fuck off, or something. Say you’d rather have Ben’s or Mike’s genes instead. Or Bill’s, that I’d get—”

“What, mine aren’t good enough?” Eddie demands.

“Eddie, baby, I _ love _the taste of your genetics, you’re an unspoken given,” Richie says. Stan pretends to gag while Eddie goes all red-faced. There’s another knock at the door, and Eddie goes this time, presumably just for the excuse to leave the room. Richie doesn’t even have a chance to make another joke before Bev is shooting through the room like a rocket, right to Stan and Richie, and she covers her mouth with her hand, in tears.

“Oh, holy shit,” she whispers. Stan transfers Audrey to her arms, and Bev cries through the entire process. “You named her after me.”

“As Ben so sweetly pointed out, we don’t know any other women,” Richie says.

“What he means is, we love you a lot,” Eddie tells him. Bev smiles at Richie.

“I know,” she says, and Richie smiles back at her. She leans in, and he crouches down to let her kiss him on the cheek. “I’m so happy for you both.”

“Thanks,” Eddie says. Stan throws his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and pulls him in, and the two hug for a long, hard moment. Stan whispers something to Eddie that Richie can’t hear, and Eddie nods, so Richie looks away and back to Bev to give them privacy.

“Where’s Mike and Bill?” Bev asks, as Audrey turns her face into Bev’s blouse and yawns there. Eddie seems to remember the formula all at once, shoving Stan away to go back to what he was doing. Riley’s watching everything with those big, dark eyes of hers, taking it all in. Richie wonders what she’s thinking.

“Presumably stopping to buy cyanide to kill Richie,” Stan answers. “Since he’s a fucking moron.”

“If Mike didn’t know Bill was gonna propose before, it’s not _ my _ fault,” Richie complains. “Bill’s so _ obvious, _ he’s been weird since he _ bought _ the ring. Actually, he’s been weird since he left Audra— Well, _ actually, _ he’s been weird since we _ met _Mike—”

“And this is all stuff you _ won’t _say once they get here,” Eddie reminds him, pointing fiercely at Richie. Richie kisses his outstretched hand, and Eddie fails at trying not to smile.

“I just want them to be happy,” Richie says, as Mike knocks on their ajar front door — Richie glances to Bev, who shrugs apologetically — and leans in, saying, “Heyo, anyone here?”

“Mike, get in here _ right now _and come meet my kids,” Richie exclaims.

“Hey—” Eddie starts.

_ “Our _ kids,” Richie corrects, before Eddie can get going. “Come meet _ our _ kids, Mike— Bill, get _ in _here.”

Bill slides in, looks to Richie with a half-glare, but Richie goes to him in only a couple of strides of his long legs and pulls him in to hug with his free arm.

“I’m sorry,” Richie says, because he doesn’t need a spellbook that can read his mind to know he mildly fucked up and just needs to apologize. Bill hugs him back, patting him on the shoulder as he pushes open the front door all the way. Georgie’s with him, too. “Well, well, well, look who it is.”

“Hi, Richie,” Georgie says. Richie hugs him, too.

“How’s the big city treatin’ you, little Georgie?” Richie asks, shutting the door. He knows Patty has a key, so she’ll presumably let herself in. For now, Richie just wants to bask in his time spent with his best friends.

“It’s good,” Georgie says, hands in his pockets. He’s been skittish since he came back, which is kind of a _ no shit _ for Richie, since the kid lost decades in between getting eaten by a clown as a child and _ now. _ Richie considers, fleetingly, what he’d do if one of _ his _kids got eaten by a clown in a sewer, and he gets so angry he has to force himself to stop.

“Well, the more the merrier, get in here and take my kid so I can make brunch,” Richie says. “Riley, who do you want to meet? Let’s see, we’ve got Uncle Bill, Uncle Mike, there’s your Aunt Bev—”

“Richie,” Riley says softly, and Richie bounces her a little bit, rubbing her back.

“Or you can hang out with me,” Richie amends. “That’s good, too.”

“Baby,” Riley sniffles. She reaches out for Audrey, and Bev hands her over, tucking her into Richie’s other arm. Riley reaches over and knots her hand in Audrey’s onesie, resting her head against Richie’s shoulder. Richie kisses the top of her head, then hears a shutter snap. He looks up to see Ben taking a picture of him.

“I can’t _ not,” _Ben says.

“Who would’ve thought,” Bill comments. “Trashmouth Tozier and _ Eddie Kaspbrak _have two kids.”

“What’s _ that _supposed to mean, asshole?” Eddie demands.

“That’s my husband,” Richie says to Georgie, who just smiles at him.

“I just meant I never imagined it,” Bill says. “God, I— I guess I haven’t thought about any of us having kids, like, actually.”

“You and Audra never—”

“Beep, beep, Richie,” Bill says, and Richie quiets. He still doesn’t like it any more than he did when he was a kid, but he’s gotta admit, it’s helpful to stop him from getting himself yelled at.

“The next generation,” Mike adds. He starts sorting through Richie’s ingredients for him, pulling aside everything he needs for French toast. Richie could kiss him, so he does, right on the cheek. Richie’s decided he’s through not showing how he really feels for the people around him, people he could lose in a second. It haunts him, but it also makes him want to be more open, so he usually just leans into it.

“They have some trauma,” Eddie explains, as Richie lets Bev play peekaboo with Riley over his shoulder. “They were removed from an abusive household, that’s why they thought they’d do well with us. We have experience with that sort of thing.”

Nobody had really been looking at Richie before, but now they’re pointedly _not _looking at Richie. He sighs, then says, “Look, none of us had stellar home lives, alright, let’s not be weird and pretend that everything's hunky-dory—”

“Who’s pretending?” Eddie says. “I have dreams about killing your parents three times a night.”

It’s entirely the wrong thing to say, which is why it makes Richie laugh. He doesn’t have a free hand, since he’s holding _ their children _(and he wonders when he’ll stop feeling the little electric thrill every time he thinks those words), so he just leans in and kisses Eddie on the cheek, then chases him when he turns away, blushing, so he can kiss him on the mouth.

“Hello?” Patty says, opening the front door. Richie turns to her.

“Do you want my sperm?” he asks, because he’s terminally stupid in a very real way. “Stan said—”

“I don’t care what Stan said,” Patty interrupts him. “We can talk about your sperm later. Explain yourselves right now, whose children are these?”

“You married the correct woman,” Richie says, as he turns to let Patty see Riley’s face over his shoulder. “They’re my children.”

“Not even sure I would’ve married a woman if I hadn’t met her,” Stan says.

“What do you mean they’re _ your _children?” Patty asks, and Richie explains all over again while Mike gets their French toast together and Eddie scrambles to make formula while also being Eddie Kaspbrak, so it takes him a couple perfectionist minutes to get it done. By the time Richie’s finally finished telling the full story, they’re all crammed in at the breakfast nook, eating strawberry French toast and chugging coffee and laughing. Riley’s acquiesced to being passed to Eddie, but no further, and Audrey’s happily going to anyone who’s willing to keep feeding her, and so she’s currently nestled up against Mike’s chest while Georgie props his chin in his hands and watches her.

“Look at us,” Richie says, helping Riley with a bite of French toast. “So domestic. Who woulda thought a bunch of clown killers would get to do things like have kids or eat brunch?”

“The miracles never cease,” Stan deadpans. Patty wipes a streak of syrup onto his jaw, and he grins at her, leaning in to kiss her cheek.

“Disgusting,” Richie says fondly. “Not to steal my beloved husband’s catchphrase anytime I enter a room—”

“You’re such a fuckwad,” Eddie cuts him off, smiling. Richie gives Riley another bite of French toast, and she twists around, smearing syrup across Eddie’s shirt. Eddie sighs. “I knew kids would be disgusting. I _ knew _they would be—”

“Disgusting Jar, another dollar,” Richie exclaims. Eddie flicks him between the eyes.

“Worth it, though,” Eddie finishes.

“Pass her over,” Bill says, and Mike lifts Audrey up to pass her over to Bill. She frowns down at them, then promptly spits up onto Bill’s shoulder. Richie doesn’t bother to hide his laughter.

_ “Disgusting,” _Eddie says again, as Richie leans over the table to take Audrey from them. He beckons at Bill.

“Gimme your shirt, I’ll stick it in the washer,” Richie says. Bill strips off his shirt and hands it over, so Richie just takes Audrey to the laundry room with him. He looks her over, but she completely missed herself, so he just bounces her in one arm while he throws Bill’s shirt in with a couple of other pieces of clothes left in the tiny hamper Eddie keeps by the machines. He only takes a couple of minutes, figuring out which setting would be best to use, but when he gets back to the kitchen, everyone’s weirdly quiet.

“What’d I miss?” Richie asks. Bill puts his head in his hands, red-faced. “Bill, are you— Wait, are you crying? What happened? Nobody’s hurt, right—”

“No, no,” Patty says.

“Yes,” Bill says, directly contradicting her, but he’s not talking to Richie, he’s talking to Mike. Actually, looking at Mike, he seems like he’s going to explode. “You’re such a dickhead, I can’t believe you did it first, I’ve been waiting to ask for so long, just ask Richie—”

_ “What!” _ Richie exclaims. “Whoa, what in the _ fuck _did I miss?”

“Mike asked Bill to marry him,” Eddie says, turning to look at Richie and motioning across his throat with a slashing hand, but Richie’s already too far gone, laughing.

“Bill, I can’t _ believe it,” _ Richie says, “you procrastinated so long he did it _ first.” _

“What?” Mike says, and it’s such a horrible parody of earlier this morning that Richie abruptly wants to die. Then, though, Bill reaches into his pants pocket and pulls out a ring box. He flicks it open and sets it in front of Mike on the table.

“I’ve wanted to marry you for a while,” Bill says. Mike covers his eyes with one hand.

“You’re a stupid fucking romantic, Bill Denbrough,” Mike tells him, sounding a little choked up. Richie groans in frustration.

“I can’t _ believe _ you waited until I was out of the room,” Richie exclaims. “Honestly, total slap in the face. Plus, _ kind _ of rude to steal Eddie’s thunder, he _ did _just give birth to two beautiful children—”

“God, you’re insufferable,” Bill says, and Richie’s heart kind of sinks before Bill continues, “I love you so much.”

“Hey, focus on your own husband, alright?” Eddie snaps. He and Bill grin at each other, but then Bill seems to consider what Eddie’s actually said and his face pales.

“Oh, shit, I’m getting married again,” Bill says.

“Thanks for the _ again,” _ Mike comments. Bill remembers himself, takes the ring out of the box and slides it on Mike’s hand. He looks at it for a second, then glances up at Mike. Mike looks so fucking _ endeared, _so soft and so warm and so sweetly in love that Richie actually thinks to pull his phone out and start taking pictures. He can’t see Bill’s face from this angle, only because Mike’s hand is up and over Bill’s cheek as he kisses him.

“I love you,” Bill says.

“Nice,” Georgie comments quietly. “Two brothers.”

Mike pulls away from Bill so he can wrap his other arm around Georgie on his other side, tugging him in for a hug. Georgie goes easily, all thin gangly limbs folding into Mike like he’s done it forever.

“I’m happy to have you as a brother, George,” Mike tells him. Georgie nods, burying his face in Mike’s neck. Bill puts his arm across Mike’s shoulders, pulling them both in, and Richie takes another picture. Ben sniffles.

“Oh, you’re such a baby, Haystack,” Richie says, his voice breaking on _ Haystack _as he starts to cry, too, and Bill laughs at him. “This is too many big life things at once. I say we do something boring and dull. Eds, any ideas?”

“Oh, go fuck yourself, Tozier—” Eddie snaps, realizing his mistake too late.

_ “Kaspbrak, _ how many times do I have to remind you?” Richie corrects. Eddie rolls his eyes. “Richie _ Kaspbrak.” _

“Are you going to do naming ceremonies for them?” Stan asks. Richie groans.

“I fucking _ forgot,” _Richie says. “Motherfucker— Will you help me with that?”

“No shit,” Stan tells him. “Of course I will.”

“Wait,” Richie says. He turns to Eddie. “We didn’t— talk about that. At all. I’m sorry, I forgot.”

“You _ forgot _ you’re Jewish?” Eddie asks. “Rich, it doesn’t matter to me. We had a Jewish wedding ceremony, we’re going to have _ another _Jewish wedding next year.”

“I don’t want to take you for granted,” Richie says. “I mean— I just don’t want you to assume I assume it’s a given. I mean—”

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Eddie says. He pushes at Stan and Patty, and they get up so he can get out of the breakfast nook and go to Richie, Riley still held tight in one arm. Eddie cups Richie’s face in his hand, then says, “I love you. It’s fine with me.”

“This is nice,” Ben says.

“You can’t acknowledge it!” Richie exclaims. “Ben, no, you broke the simulation—”

“Oh, go fuck yourself, Richie,” Mike says, laughing, and Richie grins.

“I’m still serious, this is too much dramatic shit all at once,” Richie repeats. “I want to do something boring. Let’s go to a mall, let’s go walk around a mall.”

“I’m actually down for walking around a mall,” Bev agrees.

“Fuck, we don’t have strollers,” Eddie says. “Well—”

“All the more reason to go to a mall!” Richie exclaims.

“Do malls even exist anymore?” Stan asks.

“You wound me, old man,” Mike tells him.

“Wait, are there no malls?” Georgie asks with concern. “What happened?”

* * *

Eventually, they do end up at the mall. It takes a shitload of time and effort to get there — what doesn’t, with them — but they manage to pull it off. Their first purchase is a stroller, after Eddie spends way too long comparing the intricacies of the safety ratings of each and every one. It’s endearing, actually, how concerned Eddie is, how worried he is about their children. The electric thrill still hasn’t stopped, so Richie keeps thinking, _ our kids, our babies, our family, the Kaspbrak family, _over and over, like a mantra.

Once Riley and Audrey are safely strapped into their shared stroller, Eddie insists on pushing it so he can test the safety features he’d just spent so long verifying. Richie falls back to walk next to him through the mall, past kiosks offering phone cases and ear piercings and vacation packages.

“Look at them,” Richie says, motioning towards Bill and Mike. They’re got their hands entwined, Mike’s left in Bill’s right, and every now and then Bill lifts their joined hands to kiss the back of Mike’s and smile softly at him. They’re so openly affectionate with each other, it makes Richie want to hug them, and then maybe punch or wrestle them, which is his own problem to work out.

“Don’t be such a sap,” Eddie says. Richie throws his arm across Eddie’s shoulders.

“I’m serious,” Richie says. “When I was a kid, Eds, I thought I’d be dead before I turned thirty, and look at me now. I got my own talk show, I’m not scared of getting murdered for being gay, the stupid clown’s dead, my _ parents _ are dead, I got to marry _ Eddie Kaspbrak, _and for some reason, he let me have two kids with him.”

“Well, speaking as Eddie Kaspbrak,” Eddie says, “I still feel like I’m lucky I got to marry Richie Tozier.”

“Really?”

“Well.” Eddie smiles. “Sometimes.”

“Such a sweet-talker,” Richie murmurs, leaning in to kiss him wetly on the cheek. Eddie doesn’t even bat him away, just keeps on grinning. “Someone’s in a good mood.”

“I was just thinking, you’re right,” Eddie says.

“Someone call the fucking Smithsonian, we got one for the history books,” Richie exclaims. Bev glances back to him, laughing before she turns back to her conversation with Patty and Stan.

“You’re insufferable,” Eddie says, “but you’re right.” He looks ahead, says, “Look at them,” in the same tone of voice Richie had just said it in. He leans into Richie’s hold, still pushing the stroller; Riley’s facing forwards, but Audrey’s facing towards them, on her back. She smiles, when Richie looks down at her, and he grins right back. “Thank you for this.”

“For what?” Richie asks. Eddie motions around them.

“All of this,” Eddie says. “Richie, without you, we wouldn’t even— Stan and I—”

“Eds, I’m gonna stop you right there and say we really don’t need to reminisce about the time the two of you were dead,” Richie tells him. Eddie shakes his head.

“That’s not what I mean,” Eddie tells him. “Well— Sort of—”

“Eddie, what we have, it’s…” Richie trails off, then stops. He thinks, considers his words before he says them, for once. He searches for the words that give him the deepest sense of warmth, then says, “If you were any less than you are, or Stan, or, hell, me, Bill, Ben— any of us. Bev, Mike. If we were _ any _ less than what we are, Eds, we wouldn’t be here at all. It was easy, man, to bring you back. Maybe I didn’t think it was gonna work, but I would’ve done anything to get you back, Eddie, and I mean _ anything. _ That was the easy part. Everything we’ve done since then? Baby, _ that’s _ been the fucking hardest work of my _ life, _and I’m so fucking happy I get to do it all with you.”

Eddie’s quiet for a second, then says, “That’s the longest you’ve ever talked that didn’t end with me trying to rip your head off.”

“For better or for worse,” Richie says, and Eddie stops walking, turns his head, and kisses him.

“For better,” Eddie says.

“Sickness and health?” Richie asks. “Richer and poorer?”

“All of the above,” Eddie assures him, kissing him again.

**Author's Note:**

> You can talk to me on Twitter at [@nicolelianesolo](https://twitter.com/nicoIodeon) or on Tumblr at [andillwriteyouatragedy](http://andillwriteyouatragedy.tumblr.com/).


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